Maude’s Crack
(Click to enlarge pictures)
I suppose I should start by noting that
this was not an “official” loop trip, in the sense that it is posted as such
and documented. Not that it’s unknown, certainly, the trails and roads used are
on all the maps. It introduced us to a whole new area of Big South Fork, and it
turned out to be quite nice, nice enough that I suggest it to hiking friends as
a destination. Appropriately enough, the first and last legs of it aren’t even
on trails, they’re on a jeep trail and a portion of an access road leading to
and from the
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, nature comes up and throws you a curve. I suppose these testicular jelly-like globs we found in a puddle along the jeep trail were egg sacs of some kind. I don’t know for sure except that they were, yes, gross!
The jeep trail eventually connects to a proper trail not far from this splendid overlook Tom DeCamp and Dan McDowell are enjoying. Apparently families had homes up here while husbands went to work down in the valley below. So how did they get there, you ask? And how did Maude Roysdon get her husband’s lunch to him every day?
That’s where “Maude’s Crack” comes in.
This narrow crevice is the route Maude Roysden
followed to get down into the bottomland around No Business Creek. In that it’s
markedly similar to Great Stone Door in
It really is as precipitous
as it looks. It’s narrow, too, and very cave-like, and the joint in the rock
goes up a long, long way! The walls are rather slick and don’t afford much
purchase…a good walking staff is a big, big help here.
Tom and I after passing through Maude’s
Crack (boy, that does sound kinda dirty, doesn’t it…)
Just below the Crack you can
access a spur of the John Muir Trail that gradually winds its was down to No
Business Creek, passing in and amongst collapsed rock, ridge outliers, and in
season, wildflowers. Needless to say, Dan was in his element, and at left he is
examining some of the varieties. Center: I can’t identify them, but they’re
pretty. Right: this is obviously a trillium of some kind, perhaps toadshade. It looks as if it was perhaps a week away from blooming.
You’ve seen what it looks like from the
top; this is the view from below. It’s equally spectacular. Yes, lest you
wonder, that is where you came from,
way up there, and yes, that is where you’ll need to go to get out!
Despite its remoteness (an be
assured, this is remote!) the No
Business Creek area was pretty active as recently as fifty years ago. There was
lots of farming, some mills, even a small store down here. The low wall Dan is
examining at right was apparently built to keep floodwaters out of the fields.
Yes, someone contrived a way to get a car
down here. Not out though,
apparently. This rusted hulk was probably someone’s pride and joy in bygone
days, and Dan and I appreciated its fine lines.
Sometimes the things you don’t intend to
see really make the trip more intriguing. We’d intended to connect to the Longfield Branch trail to head back up to
Eventually we did locate Longfield Branch, waded No
Business Creek, and made our way back up to
Left: Maude Roysdon’s
final resting place, in
Buried here also are some members of the Slaven family which settled the Big South Fork area. These
headstones are rather interesting in that they, like the child’s above, have
photographs placed on them. You’ve heard it said that a picture is worth a
thousand words, and this is proof enough, I think.
Back to the
Pictures
Page
Back to the
Home Page